Vehicular camera system with reduced number of pins and conduits

ABSTRACT

A camera assembly for a vehicle includes an end connector with a first connection point that carries a video+signal, a second connection point that carries power, and a third connection point that receives a video−signal, video shield current and ground current. The camera assembly may connect to a conduit assembly of the vehicle that includes a first conduit that carries the video+signal from the end connector to a display in the vehicle, a second conduit that carries power from a power source (such as a battery) to the camera assembly, and a third conduit that connects between the third connection point and a ground point for the display in the vehicle. The camera may include a radio frequency identification element operable to wirelessly communicate between a remote device and the camera to identify the camera module and/or to program the camera.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a 371 national phase application of PCTApplication No. PCT/US2011/059089, filed Nov. 3, 2011, which claims thepriority benefit of U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/490,195,filed May 26, 2011, and Ser. No. 61/410,132, filed Nov. 4, 2010, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to vehicular camera systems, and moreparticularly to single ended, NTSC vehicular camera systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Vehicular cameras typically include connectors with 6 pins that are usedto connect to the rest of the vehicle. As a result, the connectordirectly impacts the size of the camera, the number of components in thecamera, and the cost of the camera. Additionally, the wiring thatextends from the connector to points in the vehicle such as a display inthe instrument panel and a vehicle ground adds to the overall costassociated with the camera. Examples of vehicular vision systems thatincorporate cameras are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,859,565;6,611,202; 6,222,447; 5,949,331; 5,670,935; and/or 5,550,677, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

There is a continuing need for vehicular cameras that are smaller andless expensive without sacrificing performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the invention is directed to a camera assembly for avehicle, wherein the camera assembly has an end connector with a firstconnection point that carries a video+signal, a second connection pointthat carries power, and a third connection point that receives avideo−signal, video shield current and ground current. The cameraassembly may connect to a vehicle conduit assembly for the vehicle. Thevehicle conduit assembly includes a first conduit that carries thevideo+signal from the end connector to a display in the vehicle, asecond conduit that carries power from a power source (such as abattery) to the camera assembly, and a third conduit that connectsbetween the third connection point and a ground point for the display inthe vehicle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a vehicularcamera, such as for a vision display system for a vehicle, such as arearward facing camera for a rear backup assist system of the vehicle,includes a wireless communication device or receiver or transceiver,such as a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip or device or thelike, that is operable to wirelessly communicate with a remote deviceand to communicate with the camera circuitry to provide a wirelessinterface between the remote device and the camera circuitry. The visionsystem is operable to at least one of (a) identify the camera module viathe wireless communication, and (b) program the camera circuitry via thewireless communication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described by way of example only withreference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a camera system including a cameraassembly and a vehicle conduit assembly, in accordance with the priorart;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a camera system including a cameraassembly and a vehicle conduit assembly, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating the impedance of video signal conduitswhich connect a camera assembly shown in FIG. 1 to a display, over arange of frequencies, wherein a shield for the video signal conduits isgrounded at only one end;

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the impedance of a video signal conduitwhich connects the camera assembly shown in FIG. 2 to a display, over arange of frequencies, wherein a shield for the video signal conduit isgrounded at both ends;

FIG. 5 is an image shown on a display using the camera system shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an image shown on a display using the camera system shown inFIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of a test apparatus used to measurethe impedance associated with the camera system;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a vehicle with a rear vision display system anda camera with an exterior rearward field of view; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a camera and communication system inaccordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference is made to FIG. 1, which shows a vehicular camera system 10 inaccordance with the prior art. The vehicular camera system 10 includes avehicle camera assembly 12 and a vehicle conduit assembly 14 connectingthe camera assembly 12 to several points in a vehicle. The vehiclecamera assembly 12 includes a housing 15, a lens 16, an imager 18, aprinted circuit board 20, a printed circuit board connector 22 on theprinted circuit board 20, a set of conduits 24 with an intermediateconnector 26 at a first end for connecting to the printed circuit boardconnector 22 and with an end connector 28 at a second end for connectingto the vehicle conduit assembly 14. Each of the connectors 22, 26 and 28in the camera assembly 12 has 6 connection points (i.e. pins orreceptacles), including: ground 30 a, power 30 b, video+30 c, video−30d, video shield 30 e, and an optional communication connection point 30f for connecting to a bus such as a CAN bus or a LIN bus.

The conduits 24 corresponding to video+ and video−, shown at 24 c and 24d are wrapped in a first, inner shield, which is the video shield 24 e,which may be in the form of a conductive foil shown at 38, and theconduits 24 corresponding to power, ground and communication, shown at24 b, 24 a and 24 f respectively, extend alongside the inner shield 24e. An outer shield 40 extends around the conduits 24 a, 24 b, 24 c, 24d, 24 e and 24 f, and is sealed to the camera housing 15 to preventmoisture from entering the camera housing 15.

The vehicle conduit assembly 14 includes a vehicle connector 32 whichconnects to the end connector 28 of the camera assembly 12 and aplurality of conduits 34 that extend between the connector 32 andseveral points within the vehicle. The conduits 34 include: ground 34 a,power 34 b, video+34 c, video−34 d, video shield 34 e, and an optionalcommunication conduit 34 f.

The ground conduit 34 a is connected to vehicle ground shown at 35. Thepower conduit 34 b is connected to a power source, such as the vehiclebattery (not shown).

The video+ and video−conduits 34 c and 34 d are connected to a vehicledisplay shown at 36, which may be anywhere suitable, such as on theinstrument panel (not shown). The video+ and video−conduits 34 c and 34d may be in the form of a twisted pair which has the video shieldconduit 34 e wrapped around it. In embodiments wherein the cameraassembly 12 is a rear view camera, it will be noted that these conduits34 c, 34 d and 34 e may extend along a significant portion of the lengthof the vehicle, (i.e. from the rear of the vehicle to the display whichis typically at the front of the passenger cabin).

Providing the video+ and video−conduits 34 c and 34 d as a twisted pairis intended to provide immunity against coupled noise, and also tomaintain constant impedance. The video shield conduit 34 e is in theform of a conductive foil strip 39 which provides additional immunityagainst coupled noise. Typically, the video shield conduit 34 e isconnected to ground only at one end so as to avoid ground loops.However, it has been found that grounding the conduit 34 e at only oneend increases the impedance in the twisted pair as compared to groundingat both ends of the ground conduit 34 a. This increased impedance thatresults when the shield is grounded only at one end reduces the signallevel being sent from the camera assembly 12 to the display 36.

The communication conduit 34 f extends between the vehicle connector 32and the display 36 in certain applications, such as when dynamicoverlays are applied by the camera assembly 12 onto the images sent tothe display 36.

Reference is made to FIG. 2, which shows a camera system 50 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The camerasystem 50 includes a camera assembly 52 and a vehicle conduit assembly54. The camera assembly 52 includes a housing 55, a lens 56, an imager58, a printed circuit board 60 with a printed circuit board connector 62thereon, a set of conduits 64 with an intermediate connector 66 at afirst end for connecting to the printed circuit board connector 62 andan end connector 68 at a second end for connecting to the vehicleconduit assembly 54. Each of the connectors 62, 66 and 68 in the cameraassembly 52 has 4 connection points (i.e. pins or receptacles),including: The conduits 64 include a shield/ground/video−connectionpoint 84 a, a power connection point 64 b, a video+connection point 64c, and an optional communication connection point 64 d for connecting toa bus such as a CAN bus or a LIN bus.

The conduits 64 include a shield/ground/video−conduit 64 a, a powerconduit 64 b, a video+conduit 64 c, and an optional communicationconduit 64 d. The shield/ground/video−conduit 64 a is wrapped around thevideo+ and power conduits 64 c and 64 b, and is in the form of aconductive foil strip 72. An outer shield 74 extends around thecommunication conduit 64 d and the conduits 64 a, 64 b and 64 c andforms a seal with the camera housing 55 so as to prevent moisture fromentering the camera housing 55.

The vehicle conduit assembly 54 includes a vehicle connector 76 whichconnects to the end connector 68 of the camera assembly 52 and aplurality of conduits 78 that extend between the connector 76 and twopoints within the vehicle. The conduits 78 include: ashield/ground/video−conduit 78 a, a power conduit 78 b, a video+conduit78 c, and an optional communication conduit 78 d.

The shield/ground/video−conduit 78 a and the video+conduit 78 c connectto the display shown at 80 which may be positioned anywhere suitable,such as on the vehicle's instrument panel (not shown). The power conduit78 b is connected to a power source, such as the vehicle battery (notshown). It may, for example, be connected through the ignition system sothat power is sent to the camera assembly 52 upon startup of thevehicle.

The shield/ground/video−conduit 78 a may be wrapped around the powerconduit 78 b and the video+conduit 78 c along the portions of theirlength wherein they are adjacent one another in the vehicle. Theshield/ground/video−conduit 78 a may be in the form of a conductive foilstrip shown at 82. The shield/ground/video−conduit 78 a is preferablygrounded at one end which is at the display 80. Surprisingly, this hasbeen found to reduce the impedance in the video+conduit 78 c as comparedto grounding at one end of the video shield conduit 34 e in the camerasystem 10 shown in FIG. 1. Impedance measurements were taken using thetest apparatus shown at 83 in FIG. 7, which is an Agilent N3383A NetworkAnalyzer, made by Agilent Technologies of Santa Clara, Calif., USA.

The graphs shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 show the variation in impedance over arange of frequencies, for the camera system shown in FIG. 1, with atwisted pair (video+34 c and video−34 d) with a shield (34 e) that isgrounded at one end (FIG. 3), and for the camera system shown in FIG. 2,with the video+(78 c) and power (78 b) with shield/ground/video−(78 a)that is grounded at both ends (FIG. 4). The impedance curves are shownat 98 in FIGS. 3 and 99 in FIG. 4. As shown in the graphs, the curve 99(for the system shown in FIG. 2) is much tighter (which implies a lowerrange of impedance) than the curve 98 (for the system shown in FIG. 1).The frequency ranges tested were from 300 kHz to 20 MHz.

Additionally, it was found that tying video− to the video shield conduitand to the ground conduit (thereby forming theshield/ground/video−conduit 78 a) causes no degradation of the videosignal sent from the camera 52 to the display 80. This is illustrated bythe test images shown at 88 and 90 in FIGS. 5 and 6 respectively. Thetest images 88 was formed using the arrangement shown in FIG. 1, whilethe test image 90 was formed using the arrangement shown in FIG. 2. Itwas found that there was no difference in the quality of the imagesproduced using the system 50 of FIG. 2, as compared to the imagesproduced using the system 10 of FIG. 1.

EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) testing was carried out, both forradiated emissions and for conducted emissions, for the cameraassemblies 12 (FIG. 1) and 52 (FIG. 2). It was found that there was nodegradation in the performance of the camera assembly 52 in terms of EMCprotection, as compared to the camera assembly 12. Testing showed thatthe performance in conducted emissions testing for the camera assembly52 was similar to that of the camera 12, and that performance inradiated emissions was superior for the camera assembly 52 as comparedto the camera assembly 12.

The communication conduit 78 d, which extends between the vehicleconnector 76 and the display 80, may be used in embodiments whereincertain features are to be provided, such as dynamic overlays, on thecamera 52.

Many advantages arise from the camera system 50 as compared to thecamera system 10. One such advantage is that the connectors 62, 66 and68 (and the vehicle connector 76 are all smaller than their counterpartsin the camera system 10. As a result, the overall size of the cameraassembly 52 could be made smaller than the size of the camera assembly12. Reduction in size of the camera assembly 50 is particularlyadvantageous so that it facilitates integration of the camera assemblyinto the vehicle structure with greater freedom and reduced footprint.Furthermore, the camera assembly 50 has a greater (in certain respects)EMC performance than the camera assembly 10. Furthermore, the amount ofconduit that extends in the camera assembly and from the camera assemblythrough the vehicle is reduced. Furthermore, several components can beremoved from the printed circuit board, including, for example, at leastone common-mode choke that is provided between the video+ andvideo−conduits on some cameras of the prior art. Several of thesebenefits result in a camera assembly that is less expensive and simplerthan some prior art camera systems. It will be noted that theseadvantages are achieved with no reduction in image quality.

The camera system 50 is a single ended system. In other words, videosignals are only carried on the video+conduit.

Optionally, the present invention may provide a rear vision displaysystem that is operable to display, such as during a reversing maneuverof the vehicle, rearward video images at a video display screen disposedat or in an interior rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle. Referringnow to FIG. 8, a vision display system 110 for a vehicle 112 includes arearward facing camera module 114 and a display screen 116, such as avideo display screen disposed at or in or near the interior rearviewmirror assembly 118 of the vehicle 112 or elsewhere in the vehicle, orsuch as a navigation screen or the like at the mirror assembly orelsewhere in the vehicle, such as a navigation screen at the instrumentpanel or at a console of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 9, the cameramodule 114 includes camera circuitry 120 (including an arrayphotosensing pixels and a lens or optics for capturing image data in thefield of view of the camera) and a wireless communication device 122,such as a radio frequency identification chip or element or device(RFID). The camera circuitry 120 is electrically connected to aconnector 124 that includes a ground, video minus and video shield pin(Video GND), a power pin (Vcc) and a video plus pin (Video+). Thewireless communication device 122 provides two-way wirelesscommunication (such as radio frequency or infrared or the like) betweenthe camera circuitry 120 and a programming device or reader device 126to provide for camera identification and/or camera programming and/orthe like without the need for a separate communication port or pin atthe camera module, as discussed below.

The present invention thus may reduce the wire harness pigtail cost orconnector pin cost to the camera module by reducing the number of pinswhich exist at the camera connector. The camera module of the presentinvention is suited for ReversAID™ (RA) cameras and the like, which donot require an optional communication line (such as for communicationwith a LIN or CAN vehicle communication network or the like), but stillrequire a connection or pin or line so camera programming can becompleted. Typically, if programming changes are desired to be made to acamera (such as to correct the camera's operation or to adjust a settingto better accommodate the vehicle display settings or the like), such asat the vehicle assembly plant or the like, electrical connection is madeto the communication pin of the camera. Typically, suchprogramming/communication is made via a separate communication pin atthe camera module. The camera module of the present invention obviatesthe separate communication pin by providing the wireless communicationdevice or RFID chip at the camera module so as to wirelessly communicatewith the programming device or reader device to make the desiredadjustments to the camera's operation.

The OEMs currently require any product being made for an automotivevehicle to have some method of keeping the part as it is assembled inthe plant prior to shipment to the OEM for assembly into the vehicle. Ifan issue occurs with the assembled part, then the OEM has the ability totrack the part back through the assembly process to build andprogramming information. Typically, this can be done by tracking partnumbers and labels on the packaging or on the camera module at thevehicle assembly plant, which can be time consuming and costly. Thecamera module and RFID chip assembly of the present invention providesfor easier tracking and identification of the camera modules, and can bedone wirelessly, and thus may reduce the overall tracking costs for thecameras at the assembly plants (such as the costs associated withtracking stickers, labels, markings and the like at the camera moduleand/or packaging).

The present invention uses RFID tag electronics to program camerainformation (such as a serial number, date code, settings, specialfeatures and/or the like) into the camera circuitry via a wirelessinterface. For example, current ReversAID™ (RA) cameras arewelded/glued/screwed together during final assembly. Once assembled,final camera programming information cannot be communicated with thecamera without a programming interface. With conventional camera modulesthat include the communication pin, such programming is made via makingelectrical connection with the pin or port of each camera moduleindividually, which may be time consuming and costly. With the RFID tagelectronic interface of the camera module of the present invention, suchexternal program line/wire/pins in a connector or lines are not neededor obviated to get programming into the camera, and the programming canbe made via the wireless communication to one or several camera modules,thus saving time and costs in camera programming and/or in making cameraprogramming adjustments. The camera module of the present invention issuited for any reverse aid type cameras or backup assist type camerasand would work well for such RA cameras having static overlays or nothaving any overlay.

Thus, for example, for a camera module with RFID tag electronics andbuilt-in communication interface (such as I2C or SPI or the like),information could be communicated into the camera circuitry over theRFID. For example, camera settings, overlay information, alignment, datecode information, serial number, OEM part number and/or the like allcould be wirelessly communicated into and/or read from the cameramodule. Optionally, the RFID tag electronics may have the capability tostore the part number and build date information of the camera module,and a tag reader could be used to read out this information for thecamera or circuitry or printed circuit board (PCB) at any time duringthe manufacturing process. The OEM may also use the RFID chipcommunicator to wirelessly read camera information and wirelessly uploadsuch read information into the OEM database as well.

As shown in FIG. 9, the RFID chip 122 may include RFID tag electronicsor circuitry 122 a that is in communication with an antenna 122 b (whichmay be incorporated in the circuit board of the camera or may be astandalone antenna at the camera module). The transponder antenna mayreceive information or signals (such as radio frequency signals) fromthe reader system 126 (which may include a reader antenna 126 a), andmay communicate signals to the reader antenna and system or device 126.The RFID chip 122 is in communication with the camera circuitry vialines 128 (such as I2C lines or the like), and the RFID chip 122provides a wireless interface between the reader or programming deviceand the camera circuitry, thereby obviating the need for additional pinsor connectors at the camera module and manual or hard wire connection ofthe reader device to the camera module for programming the camera oradjusting the camera settings or the like.

Thus, the present invention provides a low cost camera module with onlya 3 or 4 wire interface, and with a wireless communication chip thatallows for reading and programming of various camera information andparameters, without requiring manual connection of wires to the cameramodule. For example, a small antenna may be placed on the PCB or in thePCB, and the RFID tag electronics may be attached to the antenna. Whenan external RF signal specific to the RFID tag is transmitted, the RFIDpowers and reads the information or transmits information back to thetransmitter/receiver via the wireless interface. Optionally, it isenvisioned that this same or similar type of wireless interface may alsoor otherwise be applied to body control modules and the like.

Current camera designs have six I/O lines used for interfacing to thevehicle head unit display and power lines. In contrast, the cameramodule of the present invention utilizes only three I/O pins for camerasthat have no communication bus connection and only four I/O pins forcameras with a communication bus connection.

Optionally, the camera module may include a communication pin. Currentlyall cameras require a communication line for programming, imagersettings, configuration, serial number, platform number, overlayinformation, alignment, final function test and the like. The cameramodule of the present invention may allow the communication line to beremoved and the camera pin configuration to be only a 3 wire interface(such as a Vcc pin, a Video+pin and a Video GND pin as shown in FIG. 9).Thus, the electrical connector (such as a plug and socket type multi-pinconnector) of the camera module comprises no more than three connectingpins for connecting to no more than three wires at the vehicle when thecamera module is normally mounted at the vehicle. For applications wherethe camera module may include the optional communication pin (such asfor connecting to a LIN or CAN bus of the vehicle), the electricalconnector of the camera module comprises no more than four connectingpins for connecting to no more than four wires at the vehicle when thecamera module is normally mounted at the vehicle. Optionally, forexample, in case of differential video, the camera module may include afourth pin or a “Video−” pin (such as shown in FIG. 9), with the line orpin referenced as “Video GND” in FIG. 9 provided as a power minus lineor pin in such a four wire or four pin connector system.

Optionally, the camera and RFID chip module or assembly of the presentinvention may also eliminate the need for labels on the camera modulesand/or packaging. The RFID chip could be used to store all of the partnumber information, date codes, platform information, and the like, andthe OEM or Tier 1 supplier could read all this information as the partenters into their assembly area. The reader system and/or programmingdevice may be operable to communicate with multiple cameras at the sametime via wireless interface with multiple respective RFID chips at thecamera modules.

The present invention thus provides a vehicular camera for a visiondisplay system for a vehicle, such as a rearward facing camera for arear backup assist system of the vehicle. The camera includes a wirelesscommunication device or receiver or transceiver, such as a radiofrequency identification (RFID) chip or device or the like.

For example, and according to an aspect of the present invention, avision system for a vehicle includes a camera module disposed at thevehicle and having an exterior field of view. The camera modulecomprises camera circuitry and an electrical connector for connecting toa video line of the vehicle. The camera module includes a radiofrequency identification element that is operable to wirelesslycommunicate with a remote device and to communicate with the cameracircuitry to provide a wireless interface between the remote device andthe camera circuitry. The vision system is operable to at least one of(a) identify the camera module via the wireless communication, and (b)program the camera circuitry via the wireless communication.

Optionally, the vision system may be operable to (a) identify the cameramodule via the wireless communication, and (b) program the cameracircuitry via the wireless communication. The remote device maycommunicate at least one of (i) camera settings, (ii) overlayinformation and (iii) alignment information to the radio frequencyidentification element via the wireless communication and the radiofrequency identification element may communicate the at least one of (i)camera settings, (ii) overlay information and (iii) alignmentinformation to the camera circuitry. The radio frequency identificationelement may be operable to communicate at least one of (i) camera datecode information, (ii) a camera serial number and (iii) an OEM partnumber to the remote device via the wireless communication. Optionally,the electrical connector may comprise no more than three connecting pinsfor connecting to no more than three wires at the vehicle when thecamera module is normally mounted at the vehicle.

The vision system includes a display screen that is in communicationwith the video line and that is operable to display images captured bythe camera module. The display screen may be disposed in an interiorrearview mirror assembly of the vehicle, and may comprise a video mirrordisplay screen, with video information displayed by the display screenbeing viewable through a transflective mirror reflector of the mirrorreflective element of the interior rearview mirror assembly of thevehicle.

The camera module may be disposed at a rearward portion of the vehicleand may have a rearward facing field of view. The display screen may beoperable to display images captured by the rearward viewing cameraduring a reversing maneuver of the vehicle.

Thus, the present invention provides a low cost camera module thatprovides for enhanced communication for programming and/or tracking ofthe camera module either at the camera module assembly plant, duringshipping of the camera module to a vehicle assembly plant, at thevehicle assembly plant and/or in the assembled vehicle. The cameramodule of the present invention is suitable for use as a reverse aidcamera module that may be disposed at a rear portion of the vehicle soas to have a generally rearwardly facing field of view behind thevehicle. The image data captured by the camera is communicated to animage processor and displayed at a display screen, such as a videodisplay screen, in the vehicle and viewable by the driver of the vehicleduring normal operation of the vehicle, such as during a reversingmaneuver of the vehicle. For example, video images of the sceneoccurring rearwardly of the vehicle may be displayed at a video displayscreen at or in or near an interior rearview mirror assembly of thevehicle for viewing by the driver of the vehicle during a reversingmaneuver.

Optionally, the video display may display other images, and may displaya surround view or bird's-eye view or panoramic-view images orrepresentations at the display screen, such as by utilizing aspects ofthe display systems described in PCT Application No. PCT/US10/25545,filed Feb. 26, 2010 and published Sep. 2, 2010 as InternationalPublication No. WO 2010/099416, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US10/47256, filed Aug. 31, 2010 and published Mar. 10, 2011 asInternational Publication No. WO 2011/028686, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Examples of bird'seye view systems and associated techniques are described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,670,935; 6,636,258; 7,145,519; 7,161,616; 7,230,640; 7,248,283;7,295,229; 7,301,466; and/or 7,592,928, and/or International PublicationNo. WO 2010/099416, published Sep. 2, 2010, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US10/47256, filed Aug. 31, 2010 and published Mar. 10, 2011 asInternational Publication No. WO 2011/028686, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Optionally, thecamera and video display may operate to display other images, and maydisplay a trailer angle or the like of a trailer behind the vehicle.

The vision display system may operate to display the rearward images atthe video mirror display, and may do so responsive to the driver of thevehicle shifting the vehicle into a reverse gear (such as by utilizingaspects of the vision systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677;5,670,935; 6,498,620; 6,222,447; and/or 5,949,331, and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US2011/056295, filed Oct. 14, 2011 and publishedApr. 19, 2012 as International Publication No. WO 2012/051500, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties).

As discussed above, the video display screen may be incorporated in orat an interior rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle. The interiorrearview mirror assembly may be mounted at the vehicle via any suitablemounting assembly attached to an interior portion of the vehicle, suchas to an in-cabin surface of a vehicle windshield (such as to a mountingbutton or attachment element adhered to the interior surface of thevehicle windshield). The mirror assembly may be mounted at or attachedto an interior portion of the vehicle (such as to a mounting button orthe like at an interior surface of the vehicle windshield or the like)via any mounting means, such as a single ball or single pivot mountingarrangement, or a double ball or double pivot mirror mountingarrangement. Examples of double pivot or double ball mountingarrangements are described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,646,210and 6,331,066, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. The mounting assembly may be mounted to a mountingbutton or attachment element at the vehicle windshield via a breakawaymounting construction, such as by utilizing aspects of the mountingconstructions described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,774,810; 6,642,851;6,483,438; 6,366,213; 6,326,900; 6,222,460; 6,172,613; 6,087,953;5,820,097; 5,377,949; 5,330,149 and/or 5,100,095, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The mountingassembly may utilize aspects of the mounting assemblies described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,318,870; 6,593,565; 6,690,268; 6,540,193; 4,936,533;5,820,097; 5,100,095; 7,249,860; 6,877,709; 6,329,925; 7,289,037;7,249,860; and/or 6,483,438, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0061008; and/or Ser. No. 12/912,253, filed Oct.26, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,851,690, and/or International PublicationNo. WO 2010/111173, published Sep. 30, 2010, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties). Optionally, themirror assembly may incorporate a mounting arrangement of the typesdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,289,037; 7,249,860; and/or 7,448,589,and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/522,446, filed Jan. 19, 2005and published Nov. 10, 2005 as U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005-0248168,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The video mirror display screen or device may be operable to displayimages captured by a rearward viewing camera of the vehicle during areversing maneuver of the vehicle (such as responsive to the vehiclegear actuator being placed in a reverse gear position or the like) toassist the driver in backing up the vehicle, and optionally may beoperable to display the compass heading or directional heading characteror icon when the vehicle is not undertaking a reversing maneuver, suchas when the vehicle is being driven in a forward direction along a road(such as by utilizing aspects of the display system described in PCTApplication No. PCT/US2011/056295, filed Oct. 14, 2011 and publishedApr. 19, 2012 as International Publication No. WO 2012/051500, which ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The videomirror display may comprise any suitable devices and systems andoptionally may utilize aspects of the compass display systems describedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,370,983; 7,329,013; 7,308,341; 7,289,037; 7,249,860;7,004,593; 4,546,551; 5,699,044; 4,953,305; 5,576,687; 5,632,092;5,677,851; 5,708,410; 5,737,226; 5,802,727; 5,878,370; 6,087,953;6,173,508; 6,222,460; 6,513,252; and/or 6,642,851, and/or Europeanpatent application, published Oct. 11, 2000 under Publication No. EP 01043566, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep.14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008, which are all hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties.

Optionally, the video mirror display may be disposed rearward of andbehind the reflective element assembly and may comprise a display suchas the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,240; 6,329,925;7,626,749; 7,581,859; 7,446,650; 7,370,983; 7,855,755; 7,338,177;7,274,501; 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 7,184,190; 5,668,663; 5,724,187 and/or6,690,268, and/or in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filedSep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008; and/or Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 andpublished Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018, whichare all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Thedisplay is viewable through the reflective element when the display isactivated to display information. The display element may be any type ofdisplay element, such as a vacuum fluorescent (VF) display element, alight emitting diode (LED) display element, such as an organic lightemitting diode (OLED) or an inorganic light emitting diode, anelectroluminescent (EL) display element, a liquid crystal display (LCD)element, a video screen display element or backlit thin film transistor(TFT) display element or the like, and may be operable to displayvarious information (as discrete characters, icons or the like, or in amulti-pixel manner) to the driver of the vehicle, such as passenger sideinflatable restraint (PSIR) information, tire pressure status, and/orthe like. The mirror assembly and/or display may utilize aspectsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,184,190; 7,255,451; 7,446,924 and/or7,338,177, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. The thicknesses and materials of the coatings on thesubstrates of the reflective element may be selected to provide adesired color or tint to the mirror reflective element, such as a bluecolored reflector, such as is known in the art and such as described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,910,854; 6,420,036; and/or 7,274,501, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the display or displays and any associated user inputs maybe associated with various accessories or systems, such as, for example,a tire pressure monitoring system or a passenger air bag status or agarage door opening system or a telematics system or any other accessoryor system of the mirror assembly or of the vehicle or of an accessorymodule or console of the vehicle, such as an accessory module or consoleof the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,289,037; 6,877,888;6,824,281; 6,690,268; 6,672,744; 6,386,742; and 6,124,886, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 andpublished Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The display or displays may comprise a video display and may utilizeaspects of the video display devices or modules described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 6,690,268; 7,184,190; 7,274,501; 7,370,983; and/or 7,446,650,and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/091,525, filed Apr. 25, 2008,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,755; and/or Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13,2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The video display may be operable to display images capturedby one or more imaging sensors or cameras at the vehicle. The imagingdevice and control and image processor and any associated illuminationsource, if applicable, may comprise any suitable components, and mayutilize aspects of the cameras and vision systems described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,550,677; 5,877,897; 6,498,620; 5,670,935; 5,796,094; 6,396,397;6,806,452; 6,690,268; 7,005,974; 7,123,168; 7,004,606; 6,946,978;7,038,577; 6,353,392; 6,320,176; 6,313,454; and 6,824,281, and/orInternational Publication No. WO 2010/099416, published Sep. 2, 2010,and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US10/47256, filed Aug. 31, 2010, and/orU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/508,840, filed Jul. 24, 2009, andpublished Jan. 28, 2010 as U.S. Pat. Publication No. US 2010-0020170,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The camera or cameras may comprise any suitable cameras orimaging sensors or camera modules, and may utilize aspects of thecameras or sensors described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/091,359, filed Apr. 24, 2008 and published Oct. 1, 2009 as U.S.Publication No. US-2009-0244361, and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,965,336 and7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The imaging array sensor may comprise any suitable sensor,and may utilize various imaging sensors or imaging array sensors orcameras or the like, such as a CMOS imaging array sensor, a CCD sensoror other sensors or the like, such as the types described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,715,093; 5,877,897; 6,922,292;6,757,109; 6,717,610; 6,590,719; 6,201,642; 6,498,620; 5,796,094;6,097,023; 6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 6,806,452; 6,396,397;6,822,563; 6,946,978; 7,339,149; 7,038,577; 7,004,606; 7,720,580; and/or7,965,336, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2008/076022, filed Sep. 11,2008 and published Mar. 19, 2009 as International Publication No.WO/2009/036176, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2008/078700, filed Oct.3, 2008 and published Apr. 9, 2009 as International Publication No.WO/2009/046268, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

For rear backup assist systems, various types of cameras and/or videodisplays may be utilized. Typically, rear backup cameras comprise colorvideo cameras and the video display device displays color video imagesfor viewing by the driver of the vehicle. Such color cameras compriseRCB filters (or other color filtering means), and may use a separatenear infrared filter, to cause the camera to capture color images, whilereducing blooming/pixel saturation due to near infrared radiation fromambient lighting and/or from the rear backup lighting of the vehicleand/or other lights present and operated when the reverse gear of thevehicle is selected. Also, the color filter and especially any nearinfrared filtering provided for a color rear video camera substantiallyimpacts and reduces the camera's low level light sensitivity. This isespecially so for CMOS cameras, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,550,677; 5,877,897; and/or 5,796,094, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

By dispensing with the color and near infrared filters at the camera,the full near infrared sensitivity of the CMOS imager or photosensorarray may be harnessed/utilized. Thus, the camera may view or see in thenear infrared range (typically light or energy that has a wavelengthbetween about 750 nm and about 2,500 nm or thereabouts). For example, animager comprising an array of photosensors formed bycomplementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology on asemiconductor substrate can have sensitivity to near infrared radiationout to around about 1,200 nm or thereabouts. This is especiallybeneficial because when the reversing light comes on, such lights arerich in visible light and also in near infrared light or energy, so bynot including the color and near infrared filters at the camera, theperformance of the camera is substantially enhanced in such low ambientlighting conditions. Such a camera not only provides enhancedperformance in lower ambient lighting conditions, but does so with areduced cost camera.

Also, in the likes of commercially available video mirrors supplied forvehicles today, the LCD video screen of the video display device usedhas RGB filters or color mosaic pattern filters associated with thelikes of individually addressable pixels of themulti-pixel/reconfigurable liquid crystal display screen, and with thescreen backlit by a plurality of light emitting light sources (such aswhite light emitting light emitting diodes or the like) operable, whenpowered, to generate a backlighting intensity to the rear of the videoscreen employed of at least about 30,000 candelas/m2 (such as byutilizing aspects of the display systems described in U.S. Pat. No.7,855,755, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety) so as to provide a display intensity of video images and otherinformation displayed to and viewed by the driver of the vehicle throughthe transflective mirror reflector of the likes of an electrochromicinterior rearview mirror reflective element utilized of at least about400 cd/m2 as viewed by the driver normally operating the vehicleequipped with the display system. Thus, the provision of color videodisplay for viewing by the driver of the vehicle comes at the price oflower light transmission for backlighting through the color mask orfilter of the display screen and, thus, requires a high level ofbacklighting intensity to provide the desired display intensity for allviewing conditions, including higher ambient lighting conditions, suchas a sunny day, and such a high level of backlighting intensity isespecially required or desired when the video screen is viewed through atransflective reflector of a video mirror assembly, such as described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 7,184,190; 7,274,501; 7,370,983; 7,446,650;and/or 7,855,755, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. Thus, the provision of color video display adds costand complexity to the vision system, and requires powerful backlightingand color filtering (and optionally near infrared filtering and thelike).

For a color video display screen, the color filter or mask at thedisplay screen attenuates or reduces light transmission through thedisplay screen by a factor of between about two and three or thereabouts(and could reduce transmission by more or less depending on theparticular application), and thus the color filters or masks reduce thebacklighting that passes through the display screen for viewing by thedriver of the vehicle. Thus, with the color filter or mask removed, thedisplay device may provide comparable display intensity with only aboutone-half as many to about two-thirds as many backlighting light emittingdiodes, and/or the backlighting light emitting diodes may individuallyoperate at a lower intensity and/or electrical current. Thus, theun-filtered display screen may operate with a reduced number ofbacklighting light emitting diodes or at a reduced intensity, whichresults in reduced power consumption by the powered backlighting lightemitting diodes and reduced heat generated by the powered backlightinglight emitting diodes, which achieves a reduction in the cost tomanufacture and operate the display screen.

The camera module and circuit chip or board and imaging sensor may beimplemented and operated in connection with various vehicularvision-based systems, and/or may be operable utilizing the principles ofsuch other vehicular systems, such as a vehicle headlamp control system,such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094; 6,097,023;6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 7,004,606; 7,339,149; and/or 7,526,103,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a rain sensor, such as the types disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,353,392; 6,313,454; 6,320,176; and/or7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a vehicle vision system, such as a forwardly, sidewardly orrearwardly directed vehicle vision system utilizing principles disclosedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,949,331;6,222,447; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202;6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452;6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978; and/or 7,859,565, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a trailer hitchingaid or tow check system, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.7,005,974, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, a reverse or sideward imaging system, such as for a lanechange assistance system or lane departure warning system or for a blindspot or object detection system, such as imaging or detection systems ofthe types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,720,580; 7,038,577; 5,929,786and/or 5,786,772, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/239,980,filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,881,496, and/or U.S.provisional applications, Ser. No. 60/628,709, filed Nov. 17, 2004; Ser.No. 60/614,644, filed Sep. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/618,686, filed Oct. 14,2004; Ser. No. 60/638,687, filed Dec. 23, 2004, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a video device forinternal cabin surveillance and/or video telephone function, such asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 6,690,268; and/or7,370,983, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filedJun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0050018, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties, a traffic sign recognition system, a system fordetermining a distance to a leading or trailing vehicle or object, suchas a system utilizing the principles disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.6,396,397 and/or 7,123,168, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, and/or the like.

Optionally, the circuit board or chip may include circuitry for theimaging array sensor and or other electronic accessories or features,such as by utilizing compass-on-a-chip or EC driver-on-a-chip technologyand aspects such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451 and/or U.S.Pat. No. 7,480,149; and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628,filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008, and/or Ser. No. 12/578,732, filed Oct. 14, 2009 andpublished Apr. 22, 2010 as U.S. Publication No. US-2010-0097469, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may include user inputs that maycomprise buttons or switches for controlling or activating/deactivatingone or more electrical accessories or devices of or associated with themirror assembly. The mirror assembly may comprise any type of switchesor buttons, such as touch or proximity sensing switches, such as touchor proximity switches of the types described above, or the inputs maycomprise other types of buttons or switches, such as those described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,001,486; 6,310,611; 6,320,282; 6,627,918; 6,690,268;7,224,324; 7,249,860; 7,253,723; 7,255,451; 7,360,932; and/or 7,446,924,and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018,and/or Ser. No. 12/576,550, filed Oct. 12, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No.8,465,161, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties, or such as fabric-made position detectors, such asthose described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,504,531; 6,501,465; 6,492,980;6,452,479; 6,437,258; and 6,369,804, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the user inputs or buttons may comprise user inputs for agarage door opening system, such as a vehicle based garage door openingsystem of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,396,408; 6,362,771;7,023,322; and 5,798,688, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. The user inputs may also or otherwisefunction to activate and deactivate a display or function or accessory,and/or may activate/deactivate and/or commence a calibration of acompass system of the mirror assembly and/or vehicle. The compass systemmay include compass sensors and circuitry within the mirror assembly orwithin a compass pod or module at or near or associated with the mirrorassembly. Optionally, the user inputs may also or otherwise compriseuser inputs for a telematics system of the vehicle, such as, forexample, an ONSTAR® system as found in General Motors vehicles and/orsuch as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,862,594; 4,937,945; 5,131,154;5,255,442; 5,632,092; 5,798,688; 5,971,552; 5,924,212; 6,243,003;6,278,377; and 6,420,975; 6,477,464; 6,946,978; 7,308,341; 7,167,796;7,004,593; and/or 6,678,614, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0050018, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/529,715, filed Mar. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,052, which areall hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may include one or more otheraccessories at or within the mirror casing or otherwise associated withor near the mirror assembly, such as one or more electrical orelectronic devices or accessories, such as antennas, including globalpositioning system (GPS) or cellular phone antennas, such as disclosedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,552, a communication module, such as disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,798,688, a blind spot detection system, such asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, transmittersand/or receivers, such as a garage door opener or the like, a digitalnetwork, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,575, a high/lowheadlamp controller, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094and/or 5,715,093 and/or U.S. provisional application Ser. No.61/785,565, filed May 15, 2009, a memory mirror system, such asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,176, a hands-free phone attachment, avideo device for internal cabin surveillance and/or video telephonefunction, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962 and/or5,877,897, a remote keyless entry receiver, lights, such as map readinglights or one or more other lights or illumination sources, such asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 5,938,321; 5,813,745; 5,820,245;5,673,994; 5,649,756; 5,178,448; 5,671,996; 4,646,210; 4,733,336;4,807,096; 6,042,253; 5,669,698; 7,195,381; 6,971,775; and/or 7,249,860,microphones, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,243,003; 6,278,377;and/or 6,420,975; and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/529,715,filed Mar. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,052, speakers, antennas,including global positioning system (GPS) or cellular phone antennas,such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,552, a communication module,such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,688, a voice recorder, a blindspot or object detection system, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.8,058,977; 7,720,580; 5,929,786; 5,786,772; 7,492,281; 7,038,577 and6,882,287, transmitters and/or receivers, such as for a garage dooropener or a vehicle door unlocking system or the like (such as a remotekeyless entry system), a digital network, such as described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,798,575, a high/low headlamp controller, such as a camera-basedheadlamp control, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094 and/or5,715,093, and/or U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/785,565,filed May 15, 2009, a memory mirror system, such as disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 5,796,176, a hands-free phone attachment, an imaging system orcomponents or circuitry or display thereof, such as an imaging and/ordisplay system of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,400,435;6,690,268 and 6,847,487, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/239,980, filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,881,496; Ser. No.11/105,757, filed Apr. 14, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,526,103; Ser. No.12/578,732, filed Oct. 14, 2009 and published Apr. 22, 2010 as U.S.Publication No. US-2010-0097469; and/or Ser. No. 12/508,840, filed Jul.24, 2009 and published Jan. 28, 2010 as U.S. Publication No.US-2010-0020170, an alert system, such as an alert system of the typesdescribed in PCT Application No. PCT/US2010/25545, filed Feb. 26, 2010,a video device for internal cabin surveillance (such as for sleepdetection or driver drowsiness detection or the like) and/or videotelephone function, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962 and/or5,877,897, a remote keyless entry receiver, a seat occupancy detector, aremote starter control, a yaw sensor, a clock, a carbon monoxidedetector, status displays, such as displays that display a status of adoor of the vehicle, a transmission selection (4wd/2wd or tractioncontrol (TCS) or the like), an antilock braking system, a road condition(that may warn the driver of icy road conditions) and/or the like, atrip computer, a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) receiver (suchas described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,124,647; 6,294,989; 6,445,287;6,472,979; 6,731,205; and/or 7,423,522, and/or U.S. provisionalapplication, Ser. No. 60/611,796, filed Sep. 21, 2004), and/or anONSTAR® system, a compass, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,924,212; 4,862,594; 4,937,945; 5,131,154; 5,255,442; and/or 5,632,092,a control system, such as a control system of the types described in PCTApplication No. PCT/US10/38477, filed Jun. 14, 2010 and published Dec.16, 2010 as International Publication No. WO 2010/144900, and/or anyother accessory or circuitry or the like (with the disclosures of theabove-referenced patents and patent applications and provisionalapplications and PCT applications being hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties).

The accessory or accessories may be positioned at or within the mirrorcasing and may be included on or integrated in the printed circuit boardpositioned within the mirror casing, such as along a rear surface of thereflective element or elsewhere within a cavity defined by the casing,without affecting the scope of the present invention. The useractuatable inputs described above may be actuatable to control and/oradjust the accessories of the mirror assembly/system and/or an overheadconsole and/or an accessory module/windshield electronics module and/orthe vehicle. The connection or link between the controls and the systemsor accessories may be provided via vehicle electronic or communicationsystems and the like, and may be connected via various protocols ornodes, such as BLUETOOTH®, SCP, UBP, J1850, CAN J2284, Fire Wire 1394,MOST, LIN, FLEXRAY™, Byte Flight and/or the like, or other vehicle-basedor in-vehicle communication links or systems (such as WIFI and/or IRDA)and/or the like, depending on the particular application of themirror/accessory system and the vehicle. Optionally, the connections orlinks may be provided via wireless connectivity or links, such as via awireless communication network or system, such as described in U.S. Pat.No. 7,004,593, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, without affecting the scope of the present invention.

Optionally, a reflective element assembly of the present invention (suchas for an interior or exterior rearview mirror assembly) may include aphoto sensor or light sensor (such as the types described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 6,831,268; 6,742,904; 6,737,629; 5,406,414; 5,253,109; 4,799,768;4,793,690; and/or 7,004,593, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties) at the rear or fourth surface of thereflective element assembly, such that the photo sensor detects lightpassing through the reflective element assembly. Examples of suchconfigurations are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,793,690; 5,550,677;5,193,029 and/or 7,004,593, which are all hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. The reflective element assembly thus mayhave a window or transmissive port or portion at the photo sensor. Thereflective element assembly may have a fixed attenuation such that onlya relatively small amount of light passes therethrough, such as about 12to 25 percent of the light incident on the reflective element assembly,such that the signal to dark current ratio generated at the sensor maybe substantially reduced. Because the photo sensor may have a relativelysmall sensing area, the sensor may not receive or sense a substantialamount of light passing through the reflective element assembly.Therefore, it is envisioned that a light concentrator (such as a lensand/or light channel and/or light pipe and/or other light concentratingdevice) may be positioned at the photo sensor to focus or direct thelight passing through a larger area of the reflective element assemblyonto the smaller sensing area of the photo sensor.

Note that mirror cells or reflective element assemblies such asdescribed herein can be included in complete mirror assemblies thatinclude a variety of added-features, such as lighting, telematicsfunctionality and electronics, such as are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.7,657,052; 7,308,341; 7,195,381; 7,167,796; 7,004,593; 6,690,268;6,477,464; 6,472,979; 6,445,287; 6,420,975; 6,294,989; 6,278,377;6,243,003; 6,042,253; 5,938,321; 5,924,212; 5,813,745; 5,820,245;5,669,698; 5,673,994; 5,671,996; 5,649,756; 5,632,092; 5,255,442;5,178,448; 5,131,154; 4,937,945; 4,862,594; 4,807,096; 4,733,336; and/or4,646,210, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

While the above description constitutes a plurality of embodiments ofthe present invention, it will be appreciated that the present inventionis susceptible to further modification and change without departing fromthe fair meaning of the accompanying claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A camera assembly for a vehicle, the cameraassembly comprising: a housing, a lens and an imager; wherein saidimager is disposed in the housing and positioned for receiving imagesfrom the lens; and an end connector electrically connected to circuitrydisposed in the housing, wherein the end connector comprises no morethan four connection points, and wherein the connection points comprise(i) a first connection point that carries a video+signal, (ii) a secondconnection point that carries power, and (iii) a third connection pointthat (a) carries a video−signal, (b) comprises a video shield connectionpoint and (c) comprises a ground connection point.
 2. A camera assemblyas claimed in claim 1, wherein the connection points of the endconnector further includes a fourth connection point that carries acommunication signal.
 3. A camera assembly as claimed in claim 1,wherein a plurality of electrical conductors connect to the endconnector, and wherein the electrical conductors include (i) a firstelectrical conductor that electrically connects to the first connectionpoint of the end connector, (ii) a second electrical conductor thatelectrically connects to the second connection point of the endconnector and (iii) a third electrical conductor that electricallyconnects to the third connection point of the end connector, and whereinthe third electrical conductor is wrapped around the first and secondelectrical conductors.
 4. A camera assembly as claimed in claim 3,wherein the third electrical conductor is in the form of a conductivefoil.
 5. A camera assembly as claimed in claim 3, further comprising anouter shield around the first, second and third electrical conductors,wherein the outer shield is sealed to the camera housing to preventmoisture from passing into the camera housing.
 6. A camera assembly asclaimed in claim 1, comprising a radio frequency identification elementthat is operable to wirelessly communicate with a remote device and tocommunicate with camera circuitry of the camera assembly to provide awireless interface between the remote device and the camera circuitry,and wherein a control of a vision system of a vehicle equipped with thecamera assembly is operable to at least one of (a) identify the cameraassembly via the wireless communication and (b) program camera circuitryof the camera assembly via wireless communication.
 7. The vision systemof claim 1, wherein the end connector comprises no more than threeconnection points.
 8. A camera system for a vehicle, the camera systemcomprising: a vehicle camera assembly, including a housing, a lens andan imager; wherein the imager is disposed in the housing and positionedfor receiving images from the lens; an end connector electricallyconnected to circuitry disposed in the housing, wherein the endconnector comprises no more than four connection points, and wherein theconnection points comprise (i) a first connection point that carries avideo+signal, (ii) a second connection point that carries power, and(iii) a third connection point that (a) carries a video−signal, (b)comprises a video shield connection point and (c) comprises a groundconnection point; and a vehicle connector that connects to the endconnector; and wherein the vehicle connector is electrically connectedwith (i) a first electrical conductor that connects electrically betweenthe first connection point of the end connector and a display of thevehicle, (ii) a second electrical conductor that connects electricallybetween the second connection point of the end connector and a powersource of the vehicle, and (iii) a third electrical conductor thatconnects between the third connection point of the end connector and aground for the display of the vehicle, and wherein the third electricalconductor is wrapped around the first and second electrical conductors.9. A camera system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the end connectorfurther includes a fourth connection point that carries a communicationsignal.
 10. A camera system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the thirdelectrical conductor is in the form of a conductive foil.
 11. A camerasystem as claimed in claim 8, wherein the camera assembly comprises aradio frequency identification element that is operable to wirelesslycommunicate with a remote device and to communicate with cameracircuitry to provide a wireless interface between the remote device andthe camera circuitry, and wherein a control of the camera system of avehicle equipped with the camera assembly is operable to at least one of(a) identify the camera assembly via the wireless communication and (b)program camera circuitry of the camera assembly via wirelesscommunication.
 12. The vision system of claim 8, wherein the endconnector comprises no more than three connection points.
 13. A visionsystem for a vehicle, the vision system comprising: a camera moduledisposed at a vehicle equipped with the vision system and having anexterior field of view, the camera module comprising camera circuitryand an electrical connector; wherein the camera module includes a radiofrequency identification element that is operable to wirelesslycommunicate with a remote device and to communicate with the cameracircuitry to provide a wireless interface between the remote device andthe camera circuitry; wherein the vision system is operable to at leastone of (a) identify the camera module via wireless communication and (b)program camera circuitry via wireless communication; and wherein theelectrical connector comprises (i) a first connection point that carriesa video+signal, (ii) a second connection point that carries power, and(iii) a third connection point that (a) carries a video−signal, (b)comprises a video shield connection point and (c) comprises a groundconnection point.
 14. The vision system of claim 13, wherein the visionsystem is operable to (a) identify the camera module via wirelesscommunication and (b) program camera circuitry via wirelesscommunication.
 15. The vision system of claim 14, wherein the remotedevice is operable to communicate at least one of (i) camera settings,(ii) overlay information and (iii) alignment information to the radiofrequency identification element via wireless communication, and whereinthe radio frequency identification element communicates the at least oneof (i) camera settings, (ii) overlay information and (iii) alignmentinformation to the camera circuitry.
 16. The vision system of claim 14,wherein the radio frequency identification element is operable tocommunicate at least one of (i) camera date code information, (ii) acamera serial number and (iii) an OEM part number to the remote devicevia wireless communication.
 17. The vision system of claim 13, furthercomprising a display screen operable to display images captured by thecamera module.
 18. The vision system of claim 13, wherein the electricalconnector comprises no more than four connection points.
 19. The visionsystem of claim 18, wherein the connection points of the electricalconnector further includes a fourth connection point that carries acommunication signal.